Leaderboard

Early railway companies were usually launched in a mood of heady optimism, only for the disgruntled shareholders to learn that building the damn thing was going to take a lot longer than anyone had expected. You may have noticed that the Middenshire & Fiddleyard Trunk Railway continues this venerable tradition. Even so, taking 18 months to ballast two foot of track did rather play on my conscience. I decided to tackle the problem with sheets of Poundland sandpaper. Early railways completely covered their sleepers with ballast, so I figured I might as well use paper inserts and have done with it. I don't expect my layout will get too many knocks and all my locos moved out of warranty more than forty years ago, so I'm prepared to try this idea out - but at the risk of stating the bleeding obvious I guess I should point out that delicate precision mechanisms and abrasive flakes of grit may not be the best combination for prized locos. This is an experiment to test whether it really is possible to seal the surface of the sandpaper so it's not a risk to stock (nor a constant source of tidying up). The sheets of sandpaper come in an assortment of grades, and I used the fine sheets for this project. I'll explain this choice and discuss whether I should have used a larger, coarser grade in my next post. The sheets have thin backing paper, making them easy to score, easy to cut – and also quite easy to tear. I shook them and vacuumed them to get any loose grains of sand off the paper, then sprayed glue over the sheets to try and fix all the remaining grains in place. (Matt vanish works as well, but I had a spare can of spray mount glue to use up.) Here's my recipe for anyone reckless enough or desperate enough to consider sandpaper inserts: Place the sandpaper face up over the trackwork, and holding the sheet firmly in place rub a suitable object over the top of the rails so that they are embossed through the paper. I used the rounded handle of a disposable knife to do this, but a coin would do just as well. It’s basically brass-rubbing for modellers. For sections where the rails are straight, it's best to move the now-embossed piece of sandpaper to a cutting board and use a steel ruler to produce a perfectly straight edge. Given the rough surface you'll be cutting and the thin backing paper's propensity to tear, make sure the ruler is positioned so that any slips or tears are on the outside of the insert. When working over curved rails or pointwork it's probably easiest to just cut the paper in situ using the inside of the rail as a cutting guide. The best way to do this is to make shallow cuts with just the tip of the blade, running it along the inside face of the rail just below its head, using the web as a guide. (I'll very happy to admit it: I'd never even heard these terms until I visited https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_profile ) Don't cut deeply enough to hit the chairs or sleepers, or you won't get a smooth edge that fits snugly against the inside of the rail afterwards. Cutting through gritty, abrasive material does your knife blade no good at all. Change it frequently to avoid tearing the backing paper as it gets blunted. Actually, make that very frequently – I found one of those cheap tear-off-the-blunt-length-of-blade-with-pliers DIY knives is much more convenient for this work than a Stanley knife. Once the inserts are in place, push a wagon (ideally with the deepest flanges you can find) over the rails a few times to press down the inserts where they fit up against the rails. Very small blobs of blutack on the sleepers at strategic intervals will keep the inserts in place, while still allowing them to be easily removed for track repairs. Here's my first attempt, warts and all. And since all the materials cost me less than a pound, and the inserts are only held in place with Blutack, it'll be quick enough and cheap enough to do it all over again properly now I've had a bit of practice! I'm not sure any railway did have ballast this colour, so my next blog will describe my attempts to paint it a more realistic colour.

Here are a couple of PDF files that may be of interest to pre-grouping modellers. The first document is an 1896 article from Moore's Monthly Magazine (later renamed "The Locomotive") on British pre-grouping liveries. It includes brief livery descriptions for a number of the railways (but not all). MooresMonthlyLiveries.pdf The second document is my personal selection of quotes and news items on GWR liveries and selected other liveries from the archives of the Railway Magazine during the period 1898-1924. RailwayMagazineLiveries_OK.pdf A few notes: Apart from the general observations on British and GWR liveries, the documents contain two key sources for the theory that GWR wagons were red until 1904. I'm a follower of this theory, but thought I'd have a look at the contemporary sources to see for myself. I have to say though that the references to wagon liveries are very brief, and to me emphasize the very scant attention given to wagons by railway observers of the time. More generally speaking, this material also suggests to me that contemporary magazine articles are a somewhat problematic source of livery details. I can't help feeling that the livery descriptions herein seem rather subjective and not necessarily well researched. That said, the material does provide some snippets of information on various details of GWR loco and carriage liveries that I had not previously encountered. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions. If nothing else, it all gives a sense of the ethos of the time! Many thanks to the RMwebbers who have helped with this.

Nörreport station, Copenhagen. Every day after work, I wait here for my local train home. Today it’s late, rush hour is over. Everyone is tired, noone is talking, noone is present. We’re not really here, we’re already somewhere else. While I wait, commuter trains roll into the platforms and leave again. Many are nearly empty, having already dropped off most passengers at Copenhagen Central. They will terminate soon, at the next station. Then an ICE train pulls into the platform, all the way from Berlin. At the sight of it, something stirs inside the weary commuter: A slightly unusual train, an arrival from far away. Is there anything like it? And thoughts begin to wander... Imagine a fine summer’s day in 1906. Imagine the bay platform of a junction station. A 517 class arrives with an autotrailer. Bit of a cliché, I grant you, a bit twee. But as a tired commuter, I’ll go with twee any time! And the autotrailer, which one is that? Ah, it’s the unusual A12 from the Plymouth area. Oh and look, here’s another train. River Class No. 69 “Avon”. Odd that, I thought I’d sold it some time ago? And what’s a fast engine like that doing in a bay platform? Never mind, it’s my daydream so I can do what I want! Argh, what’s all this disturbance now? Oh, it’s the Nivaa train. Well that’s no use for me. And quit staring at me people, I’m not really here, can’t you see that? Ah that’s better. Now this is what I call passengers! Stylish, sophisticated and not a care in the world. No ashen-faced commuters here! A-ha, here's the River again. And the infamous fireman known as "Mad Charlie", in conversation with Station Master A. Woodcourt. I wonder what they’re talking about? How she’s running today, maybe. Or the qualities of different kinds of coal. Or the Bambatha Rebellion. Certainly not tax forms or car repairs or any of the other trivial matters of today's world. Speaking of the Bambatha Rebellion (yeah well, look it up), here’s some real buffalo power! And it’s propelling an interesting 6-wheel U28 clerestory. And here’s a Buffalo with a tender! Well sort of: The Armstrong Goods were pretty closely related to the Buffalo tanks, if I’m not mistaken. And in my daydreams I’m never mistaken! Now what? Oh, it’s the train I’m in. So it arrived? I got on board? Never even noticed! We commuters are like robots sometimes. But look, it’s been snowing again. Looks nice with the lights, eh? And these are decent DMUs: comfortable, sleek, effective. Come to think of it, reality isn’t that bad after all. I wonder what’s for dinner? Click images for full size

Fast Forwards twelve months The layout isnt anywhere near built yet, its frustrating, yes very frsutrating... and all the time, i am still keeping faith with the plan. Window Shopping is still as bad in 2019 as it was in 2018. The only difference is the goals are slightly different. Yes, a year later I have two DB 60s, two DB 66s (both now in the newer large logo DB livery which works so well)... having dabbled further with loco reliverying, and caught in the crosshairs of delays for the Bachmann Class 90, I really wish (#kickingmyself) that I hadnt been so trigger happy with letting four DB class 90s go soooooooo easily - grrrrrrr. Ok, so i may have got reasonable prices for them, but it's just disappointing. I guess onwards and upwards. My goals for the next twelve months are to steadily grow my DB fleet, I have recently acquired 67018 in the maple leaf livery but whilst this livery is unusual, i do prefer the newer DB 67s with the railfreight slogans on them. Maybe I will have to do some wheeler dealer-ing there. As for new models, a few other more pressing affairs are going to have to take over short term, but its my intention to acquire the new Hornby 87 in Cally Sleeper livery late in the year, and i still have a DJ Models 92 on order - I wonder if i can that to Cally Sleeper rather than DB. There are times where I wish I had never got back into model railways. Many times indeed There is always something one wants... So, i had my layout plans, they changed, my loco fleet changed accordingly, so i had a mixed ac fleet of mainly Virgin and EWS, i then moved on to DB Schenker and then post Schenker DB Cargo, is wher I am at, and it aint changing. So, I get to what is almost perfect for an AC fan, two EWS 86s, kept on, not retired as EWS did, sent back to Crewe for maintenance and taken out of possible scrapping - an imaginary team of engineers spending a day at freightliner Basford Hall seeing how they have kept their 86s going. So, the plan of EWS 86s is going to happen, then I come across the Heljan 86 - and at the same time as discovering this - Bachmann firstly, and then DJ Models announce 90 and 92 models - AARRRGGGHHHHH... Soooo... wind forward to early 2018, and the loco plans for Johnson Street IEMD are as follows: Class 86s 2 Heljan ones - one in Ex EWS DB and one in DB large logo - maybe 86261 and 86424 - depending on where these are now Class 90s 5 Bachmann ones - 90019 DB Cargo, 90024 DB Malcolm (Pretty please Bachmann do this one), 90034 DB Ex DRS (reblown 66 sound, hopefully), 90036 DB (Minus Schenker) and 90037 DB Ex EWS Class 92s 1 DJ Model - 92015 in DB red Class 66s 2 Bachmann examples - 66002 and 66065 in DB Ex EWS (both sound fitted) Class 60s 1 Hornby - 60100 in DB red (TTS sound fitted) Class 08s 1 Bachmann - 08907 Long term possibilities Hornby Class 87 - 2018 model - in Caledonian Sleeper livery Dapol Class 88 - when they get round to it - in DRS Blue without all the logos

A good friend of mine asked me to remove the factory weathering of his Hornby Railroad Crosti 9F. Having been a fireman at Wellingborough he actually worked on the prototypes and was none to complementary about them. Poor steaming and terrible visibility were mentioned. He also told the story of the Crosti 9F's being stored at the back of the shed and cannibalised for spares. The Hornby model is a Railroad model from a few years ago. Yes it has it's faults but I actually like it and think there are some good points in it's favour including price and robustness. The factory weathering is that awful blast of brown paint on the chassis and lower sides which looks a kin to Elvin Evan's Fiesta WRC after a muddy stage in a Welsh forest. Carefully using T-Cut and cotton buds I was able to remove the weathering without damage the numbers and crests, I quiet like the effect on the tender sides especially. . 9F by Mark Branson, on Flickr Here's a broadside shot with Modelu crew figures being painted up. 9F by Mark Branson, on Flickr 9F by Mark Branson, on Flickr Handrails were bent up and fitted above the front foot steps. Lamp brackets were made staples. The lamp is one of Dave Frank's excellent LMS range of loco lights. Weathering is purely added using dry brushing and washes of Valejo/Games Workshop paints. 9F by Mark Branson, on Flickr The Modelu crew are painted up using the same acrylic paints and posed accordingly. 9F by Mark Branson, on Flickr 9F by Mark Branson, on Flickr Tender doors are Bachmann ones from the spares box.Crushed real coal added to the tender to finish. Now things have warmed up a fraction weather wise I may do a few tweaks with the airbrush to finish it off. Cheers, Mark

I've had a rolling road for some time, but have always preferred to run locos in on a circle of track, in both OO and P4 gauges. My 16XX (built from the old Cotswold kit, now available again from SE Finecast) was constructed a few years ago, but I've never been completely happy with the running. I had given it what I considered to be a 'good running in' (several hours, all told) on my circle of P4 track, which has to be laid out on newspapers on the floor, but that didn't improve the quality of the running to the extent that I had hoped. The loco has a heavy whitemetal body, on a pair of Gibson 64XX milled frames (the wheelbase is the same as the 16XX, but the frames need to be slightly lengthened at one end and shortened at the other by the same amount to get the relationship between the axle centres and the splashers on the body right). It is driven by a Mashima motor via a High Level gearbox. I've tinkered with the quartering and the side rods, but never quite managed to get the level of smooth running that I wanted. A few months ago, however, when I was doing more work at my workbench and could keep an eye on proceedings, I decided that I had nothing to lose by putting the loco on the Bachrus rolling road and giving it a significant spell of running forwards and backwards. At the end of that process, given the running on the rolling road under the control of my Gaugemaster (DC) controller, I was still sceptical, but I hadn't tried it on a piece of track and under the control of my slow speed hand-held controller until this afternoon. Whilst still not quite 'perfect', I was pleased to see that the running was better than I had expected, so rather than rush into building a Branchlines chassis for it (the parts for which I obtained earlier this year), I will persevere with another spell on the rolling road and see how that goes.

Well spare time to actually do anything lately has been in incredibly short supply, and progress on any projects has almost stopped. With my recent lack of attendance lately I reckon the chaps at the Warrington Model Railway club must think I have given up on model railways and taken up a another hobby. Anyway on the weekend the postman delivered a little parcel from Japan that included a Kato 4 wheel chassis, which I tracked down via Evil Bay and being a technological God, managed to order and pay for it without getting into a bit of a mess like when I tried ordering the weekly shop. Remember the Courgette shortage that was all over the news a while back, well err it had nothing to do with me.......... My idea for Lugsdale road was to add a little movement to the street scene, and considered moving vehicles like Buses and Vans and the like, so being the sensible modeller that I am, I did a little research by reading one of my books on Trams. That's when the obvious hit me, N gauge road vehicles are tiny So until I can figure out a solution to the problem, I think I might see what I can do with a Kato chassis and one of those Matchbox Tetley tea trams I seem to have amassed (I know the chassis is a 4 wheel job and the Tram is supposed to be bogeyed, the Domestic Overlord said not with Snot ). So all I have to do now is find away of getting some time to work on combining the two items to create a hybrid working tram, while I give some serious thought to how I can actually add movement to the streets of Lugsdale road, I'm sure the solution will become apparent eventually. As ever, until the next time Happy Modelling

I've posted a few updates on my Blue Pullman project over the last couple of years, but I really thought I ought to get my a*se in gear and finish the thing! One of the sticking points (other than the boredom and laziness instilled by a very repetitive, drawn-out project) was a lack of suitable decals, but on a recent ebay search I found that suitable British Rail style "Pullman" lettering was now obtainable, so over the last weekend or two I've cracked on with some of the jobs that were still to be done. These included: Adding bogies to the trailing power car Completing glazing of all units Completing interior work on all units Tackling some of the underframe differences between units General tweaking of couplings etc to ensure reliable running It's not all done yet! I've begun reworking the underframe details, but I'm taking if carefully one set of vehicles at a time, and so far I've only made a good start on the parlour firsts. I've also still to add the kitchen car roof detail, as well. Nonetheless I am very pleased with the look of the semi-finished article, and it''s a relief to find that the power car has no trouble shifting the complete rake. This is the undriven end. At the moment a couple of raw Tri-ang bodies are standing in for the parlour firsts, while I finish the painting of the intended shells. There's nothing wrong with these Tri-ang bodies as they stand, except that they don't allow for flush glazing (unlike the earlier livery models, where the window inserts were a separate moulding) so for that reason I'n repainting the earlier Nanking blue shells. The driven end. I won't add the decals until I've finished the testing of the rake, as I don't want to handle it excessively once the decals are on. Cheers, all.

Nothing particularly exciting to write home about, but the next board has been wired up in fairly short order. Only logical as there were no points and as I'm getting towards the end I'm running out of things to have wire up! The good news is that just leaves one to go. Then I can start assembling things and testing in earnest. I'd discovered since I built the track that there was a vehicular access route through the down yard to the goods shed which required a couple of crossings with check rails. Needless to say I hadn't put those in so a little bit of track lifting and re-chairing was required. I also had to extend the goods shed track and the back siding to the up yard across the board joint. Other than that it was relatively plain sailing. I've drawn the outline of the station building to get a feel of the layout and as you can see it'll take up most of the board! Still, it's all starting to come together!

The lift out board - number 19 - has now been fully wired. Power to board 19 is fed via four brass strips on the board which, when the board is in position, make contact with 4 brass sprung plungers obtained from old light bulb connectors. To enable power to still feed Board 20 when 19 is lifted out power cables have been run down the support legs, across the floor and up the support leg of board 20. To avoid the potential disaster of engines and stock being accidentally driven into the abyss a dead section of track exists on each side of the gap, on up and down lines, so that power is removed when the lift out board is removed. These four sections of track are controlled by micro-switches. The four on the vertical faces - board 18 and 20 - switch on power when board 19 is in position. The four on the horizontal surface switch on power when the wooden barrier pieces are in position enabling full use of the track when board 19 is out. Lift out board 19 - pre track fitting photo Inter board cables Board 18 connections Board 18 with barrier in place. Board 20 without and with barrier.

To add a little variation to the rake of brake vans for the Brake Van Special, I decided to dig out a Parkside's kit of a Toad B. I believe that some lasted into the 1960s in their original state so thought one might have found its way down to Cornwall. This is probably unlikely but as a Toad E was used on the Wenfordbridge Branch it might have happened... When building plastic wagon kits I normally remove the plastic w irons complete with springs and axle boxes leaving just the wagon solebars. I then reduce the thickness of the solebars so that MJT W iron suppression units can be installed. Appropriate cast springs and axle boxes are then added to complete the running gear. In looking at the Toad B solebars I became aware of some very fragile components that, knowing me, would get damaged in the above procedure. This got me thinking of using MJT 2291 suspension units instead which would enable me to keep the Parkside offerings on the kit. I believe the standard way to install these compensation units is to only use one rocking unit and insert bearings into the opposite end plastic axle boxes to create a fixed axle. In this instance, to make sure the ride height is parallel, I decided to install two units making one non rocking by slipping an appropriate thickness of plastic card between the mounting plate and the rocking assembly. The only other requirement was to create a groove in one set of the plastic axle boxes to allow one unit to rock. Other minor modifications I made to the kit are: Replacing the plastic buffers with white metal ones supplied by Lanakshire Models. Replacing the plastic torpedo vents in the roof with Lanakshire Models castings. Installing three link couplings. I've left the roof loose so that a few figures can be easily added to each veranda. The model's weight can then be checked and, if required, more weight can be added inside the van. Next stage is making and fitting all the hand rails... Hmmm, this should be fun!